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Italy
The Greatest!
by Jeremy Ruane
New Zealand’s All Whites recorded arguably the greatest result in the country’s sporting history in Nelspruit’s Mbombela Stadium on June 20, as they held Italy, the reigning world champions, to a 1-1 draw in group play at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals.
FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, was in attendance at the match, and he and the 38,229 fans inside the ground looked on incredulously as the world’s 78th-ranked team made light of their ranking to cap off a great start by taking the lead against the 5th-ranked title holders in the seventh minute.
Simon Elliott’s free-kick, delivered from a point near the left-hand touchline ten yards inside Italy’s half, was flicked on by Winston Reid and ricocheted off Italian captain Fabio Cannavaro.
Lurking behind him was Shane Smeltz, who prodded the ball past Federico Marchetti from four yards to the delight of Kiwi football fans in the ground and back home watching on TV - New Zealand 1, Italy 0 … not in a friendly international as was the case some fourteen months ago, but this time on the biggest stage of all, the FIFA World Cup Finals.
The Italians drew their opening fixture with Paraguay, so anything less than victory in this match would leave their World Cup hopes in the balance. Finding themselves behind on the scoreboard at such an early stage … talk about red rag to a bull …
The monster roared. Loudly. It could even be heard above the buzz of the vuvuzelas, the source of the soundtrack of South Africa 2010. (Don’t return home without one!) Riccardo Montolivo fired Italy’s first shot in anger two minutes after the goal, a wicked free-kick which careered through the gathered throngs and required Mark Paston to swat it to safety.
That warning shot across New Zealand’s bows was followed by another eight minutes later, a wild and wayward volley from Giorgio Chiellini missing the target completely following Simone Pepe’s uncleared corner.
Italy had been piling on the pressure, and continued to do so, but found themselves up against some simply irresistible All Whites defending, the early stages of what was to become the greatest rearguard action ever staged in New Zealand’s footballing history.
Captain Ryan Nelsen, Tommy Smith and Winston Reid were simply immense in the face of incessant Italian invention, ably supported by Paston, wing-backs Tony Lochhead and Leo Bertos, central midfielders Ivan Vicelich and Simon Elliott - now the two most-capped "A" internationals in New Zealand’s history - and the forward line of Chris Killen, Shane Smeltz and Rory Fallon.
The yellow card Guatemalan referee Carlos Batres brandished in the face of the last-mentioned in the fourteenth minute didn’t deter Fallon at all. He continued to tread that fine line between fair means and foul whenever he rose to contest a header, an event which prompted more gamesmanship than necessary by the Italians, who would have been better served channelling their energies into attempting to restore parity.
Montolivo was leading their response to the early setback, linking with Gianluca Zambrotta in the 22nd minute to unleash a thirty-five yarder which flashed inches over the bar,
Five minutes later, the midfielder unleashed another long-range piledriver, this one leaving Paston beaten all ends as it sizzled past the ‘keeper from thirty yards, only to rebound back into play behind him thanks to the ball cannoning off the base of a post.
The All Whites scrambled this chance to safety, but were on the back foot again seconds later, this time in dubious circumstances. Smith was harshly booked by referee Batres for his part in the 28th minute incident which saw the official pointing to the penalty spot as Daniele De Rossi writhed in apparent agony following a run-in with the defender.
Striker Vincenzo Iaquinta made no mistake from the spot-kick, battering the ball into the opposite corner to which Paston plunged, and New Zealand’s moment of glory - being ahead of the reigning world champions at the World Cup Finals - looked to be at an end, with normal service set to swiftly resume.
Not according to the All Whites’ script. They continued to defend stoutly, so much so, in fact, that the only opportunity the Azzurri enjoyed between the equaliser and the half-time whistle was a stoppage time piledriver from De Rossi which Paston parried to safety.
Italian coach Marcelo Lippi rang the changes by the hour mark, using all three of his substitutes in an effort to alter the situation by this time. But the All
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Whites’ resolve was total - "Thou Shalt Not Pass" its theme.
There was even a brief spell where New Zealand’s representatives were able to string together a series of passes around the hour mark, treating the Italians to a taste of their own medicine. It didn’t go down too well.
Paston punched away the first effort of the half, a well-struck hooked volley on the turn by half-time substitute Antonio De Natale just four minutes into the second spell. The ‘keeper was reduced to the role of spectator on the hour mark, as Iaquinta wriggled his way between defenders on the edge of the area only to pull his shot wide, having been picked out by a superbly angled peach of a forty yard pass by De Rossi.
New Zealand attacks were rare - Marchetti was often the only player inside Italy’s half during the second spell - but one, in the 63rd minute, came desperately close to really setting the cat amongst the pigeons.
Lochhead’s throw-in was headed out by Cannavaro to the lurking figure of Vicelich, who, from twenty-five yards, unleashed a first-time volley which screamed inches past Marchetti’s right-hand post.
Back came the Azzurri, only to be denied in magnificent fashion by Paston, whose flying one-handed save to deny Montolivo’s piledriver, which followed some superb work by half-time substitute Mauro Camoranesi, will rank as one of the tournament’s best stops.
It was backs to the wall stuff now for the All Whites, with Vicelich and Nelsen scrambling the danger to safety in the 72nd minute as Reid lay prone up-field, requiring treatment to a head wound.
He recovered in time to head clear an Iaquinta header as yet another Italian corner - they mustered fifteen compared with New Zealand’s none - wasn’t capitalised upon by the Azzurri.
Into the last ten minutes, the Italians adopted shoot-on-sight tactics, so desperate were they to break down the white wall which stood between them and victory. By this stage, all the neutrals had joined the New Zealand fans in cheering on the All Whites, true footballing Davids in this clash with a genuine footballing Goliath.
And they were nearly cheering an against all odds winner from New Zealand’s youngest ever World Cup Finalist, Chris Wood, seven minutes from time. Jeremy Christie and Smeltz worked an opening for the teenager on the edge of the penalty area, but Wood still had work aplenty to do - evading the clutches of Cannavaro is not something easily achieved.
But achieve it he did, quite brilliantly, in doing so engineering himself the room in which to unleash a shot across the diving Marchetti. Sadly for Wood, the ball fizzed a foot past the far post - New Zealand were that close to beating the reigning world champions.
Instead, they had to stave off last-gasp efforts from the Italians, including a thirty-five yard screamer from Camoranesi which Paston pawed round the post, and a Zambrotta rocket which Nelsen blocked in true ‘body on the line’ fashion during the four minutes of stoppage time, moments after New Zealand’s captain had been stricken by cramp, only to be ridiculously booked by referee Batres for his failure to depart the pitch on a stretcher!
It was a bizarre moment during a match which many will regard as a bizarre result. On another day, Italy would have scored five at least, but this was New Zealand’s day, their greatest day.
It was the day the champions of Oceania matched the reigning world champions stride for stride and emerged with a richly deserved 1-1 draw for their defiant efforts, efforts which have kept alive their hopes, however unlikely they may seem, of New Zealand advancing to the last sixteen on world football’s greatest stage.
Paraguay, from 2am on Friday, NZ time, provides the last obstacle on this hitherto uncharted course towards unprecedented footballing glory for the All Whites, a match in which they will bid to surpass today’s effort, the greatest result in NZ footballing history, if not sporting history, a 1-1 draw with reigning world champions Italy.
All Whites: Paston; Reid, Nelsen (booked, 86), Smith (booked, 28); Bertos, Vicelich (Christie, 80), Elliott, Lochhead; Killen (Barron, 90), Fallon (booked, 14) (Wood, 62), Smeltz
Italy: Marchetti; Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Chiellini, Criscito; Pepe (Camoranesi, 46), De Rossi, Montolivo, Marchisio (Pazzini, 61); Iaquinta, Gilardino (Di Natale, 46)
Referee: Carlos Batres (Guatemala)
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